Wednesday, December 19, 2007

What a rollercoaster!!

Okay, so I have finally worked something out part-time with Deere, but it's not at all what I expected it would be. In my frustration, I sent an email to another Deere unit in the Des Moines area called Intelligent Vehicle Systems, where they make the satellite navigation systems for other Deere products. The opening they had was for a gal (Molly) who is going on maternity leave in February who also works part-time (this is her 2nd kid). They were thinking that January could be a good time for us to overlap, and I could pick up the ropes to work for her until she comes back in April. Her job is to analyze warranty data, so she works a lot with QE's, supply management, and test engineers. The position is actually within the Product Verification and Validation group (PV&V). In working with those other groups, by April I should know where I might fit into the organization with another part-time position so Molly would have her job back when she returns. The manager of the PV&V group that I spoke with was very supportive of young moms working part-time, and sang the song about how if Deere wants to stay competitive and diverse they'd better get with it and make things flexible for their employees, and the plant is making a big mistake to not do that. I was SO happy to hear that! And the last great thing about this position is that in a few months, it's totally open for me to decide that it isn't working, and instead of transitioning to a new department I could quit without feeling like I was abandoning someone who went out on a limb for me to get a part-time position. Or I could continue.

So just when I thought I was getting this figured out, I called the childcare provider that we had liked the best (also named Molly, ironically) to tel her I'd like to spend some time at her house today or tomorrow (since that's all I have left of maternity leave - how fast it went!!!). She said she had determined her part-time rates, and that they are $10 less than her regular full-time weekly rate. Because that doesn't seem like a good deal, we've started from scratch on the daycare search. I talked to Molly again this morning that I was still looking, but in a pinch I hoped she could be my provider because I did feel really good about leaving Emily with her. Basically the discussion didn't go well, not because she isn't a really sweet person but because she's trying to defend her business against people who take as much as she can give her. It was awful for me to realize that I was being that person, because being a musician I can totally understand that people will take as much as you will give - and then think you charge too much. So I don't know if it's going to work out with this Molly.

It's so frustrating. Just when childcare looked promising, the job wasn't working out. Now that the job is working out, the childcare isn't!! I wonder if it's even worth it, except I really did have a good feeling about starting at AMS. But then there's moments like this morning, where Emily stopped nursing just as my milk let down to look up and smile at me. There was milk running everywhere - dribbling out her mouth, all over her face, down my arm and my side - and I didn't care one bit because my beautiful little girl was smiling at me.

And so the saga continues. What a mess.

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